THE PRO GUIDETO BUYINGWEBSITES

FIRST EDITION

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites

Copyright © 2011 Flippa Pty. Ltd.

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iv

Table of Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Who should read this report? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Special thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Chapter 1 Define yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Your motivations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Your interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Your technical skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Your marketing skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Your available time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Your available funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Your payback expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Your exit strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2 Define your search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Defining the niche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Defining the technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Defining the budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Using search tools and alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 3 Understand the opportunity . . . . . . . . . 19

Knowing the site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Revenue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Knowing the seller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Checking seller feedback and trust ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Getting testimonials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Asking for name and location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Reviewing the sales history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Understanding the reason for selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Common traps to avoid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Chapter 4 Engage in the auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

When to bid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

What you’re buying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

What to bid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Chapter 5 Complete the transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Making it yours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Getting in touch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Taking the time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Honoring the terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Common traps to avoid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter 6 What if it all goes wrong? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

What if I change my mind? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

vi

What if the seller doesn’t deliver? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

What if I'm in over my head? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Putting it all together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Where to now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Chapter 7 Website buyer’s checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

vii

PrefaceIf you’ve never bought a website, the prospect of handing over your hard-earned

dollars for an intangible asset might seem dubious—even dangerous. After all, even

experienced website buyers can be caught out in the complex, often confusing world

of site trading.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide: to help you understand what’s involved

in buying websites, and to give you the tips and tools you’ll need to navigate the

unpredictable waters of online trading.

The reality of buying websites is that it entails a degree of risk. How much risk will

depend on the legwork you do before you click the “Bid” button. The advice

provided in this guide aims to help you accept, manage, and reduce as far as possible

the degree of risk you face in making a purchase.

Who should read this report?This report has been designed specifically for people who have never purchased a

website before, or have little experience in the field.

It will also be of value to more experienced site buyers who are new to Flippa, since

it explains much about the workings of this online property marketplace.

Different buyers have different motivations for making a purchase, and different

sites demand different qualities from their owners. As such, this report will stick

to the essential considerations that you’ll need to make in purchasing any site. For

more information on buying sites of a specific type, managing their transfer, or

growing and developing them over time, keep an eye on the Flippa blog.1

1 https://flippa.com/blog/

FeedbackWe welcome feedback on Flippa products and services—including reports like this

one. You can give us your feedback directly in the support forum2 or by emailing

us at feedback@flippa.com.

Special thanksMany thanks to Justin Gilchrist from FlipFilter3 for his valued input into this guide.

2 http://flippa.uservoice.com/forums/17374-general3 http://www.flipfilter.com/

x

Chapter1Define yourselfThe first step in buying a website is to define yourself—to be clear about your skills,

desires, expectations, available resources, and other factors we’ll discuss in the

coming pages.

Once you’ve clarified these aspects, you’ll be able to narrow the focus of your search

for the perfect site. You’ll save time, effort, and money, since you’ll know that the

sites you’re considering meet the criteria you’ve defined. In this chapter, we’ll look

closely at those criteria, including:

■ your motivations for buying a site■ the topics that interest and excite you■ your technical skills■ your marketing skills■ the time you have available to spend on the site■ the amount of money you have to spend■ the payback timeframe you’re anticipating■ your exit strategy

Your motivationsWhat are your motivations for buying a website? Are you looking to develop a

passive income stream that earns while you sleep, holiday, and work a day job? Are

you seeking a site that you can turn into a business—an active income stream—so

that, eventually, you can quit your day job to work on your site? Are you looking

for a fun hobby site, or one that will provide search engine benefits to another

website you already own?

Identifying your motivations up front is extremely important, so be honest with

yourself about what you’re genuinely hoping to get out of this exercise. While your

motivations may change over time, you need to know what’s motivating you now,

today.

For example, let’s assume that you want to buy a website to generate a passive in-

come. It’d be nice to have a little extra cash coming in, wouldn’t it? For one thing,

it would make that holiday you’re planning to take in Mexico next spring a whole

lot more affordable, but it could also be handy after that as you save to buy a home.

As you can see, outlining your motivations as simply as this already indicates a few

criteria for your purchase: you want to buy a site that’s going to generate an income

within the next eight months, for example. You also want a site that has some

longevity, and the potential to evolve and generate an income for years to come. As

we’re about to see, this information will impact the other questions we need to ask.

Your interestsIf you’ve spent any time in website-buying forums, you’ll have heard people stress

the importance of having a passion for the topic of your site.

What happens if you lack passion for your topic? What if you don’t feel a natural

connection with, or curiosity in, the subject of your site? You’ll have a hard time

mustering the energy to work on it, understanding the motivations of the people

who use it, or marketing empathetically to your site’s audience.

When you’re thinking about your interests, put aside the basic motivation that we

considered a moment ago. Okay, so you want to earn a passive income. Fine—that’s

on the list. But what are your interests?

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites2

In the example we’re considering, we already know two of your interests: travel,

and purchasing your own home. If we drill down into these interests, we’ll likely

find out more. Perhaps you’re particularly interested in Mexico, in Latin American

prehistory, or in remote-location or extreme camping. Perhaps your family lives in

Mexico and you’re going to visit them. Perhaps you’re traveling there on secondment

from your day job. Perhaps you’re going because you want to brush up on your

Spanish.

As you can see, there are plenty of options—and we haven’t even considered your

interest in buying your own home yet! Any of these interests could help to shape

your approach to buying a website. If you know Spanish and want to keep your

language current, perhaps you’d consider buying a site that had potential with a

Spanish-speaking readership. If you’re into remote-location camping, maybe you’ll

look for a site that focuses on outdoor pursuits, camping, or extreme sports, in the

hope that you can develop it to address your particular interest.

Considering your interests carefully can also help you begin to think about their

profit potential. Take your interest in the Spanish language, for example. The Web’s

Spanish-speaking userbase continues to grow at a faster rate than its English-

speaking counterpart, and competition in the Spanish market has been less intense.

So there’s considerable monetization potential for sites that target Spanish speakers,

and that potential may exist in a range of categories and topics.

Now let’s have a think about your interest in remote-location camping. Since it’s

an extreme sport, the audience for content focused on this interest is going to be

smaller than that for Spanish content. However, extreme sports tend to be pretty

expensive, and those who engage in such sports are usually prepared to spend

money on them. So although you might share this interest with a smaller number

of people, those people might be more willing to spend money within the

niche—potentially through your new website.

Giving some thought to the profit potential of your interests even at this early stage

can help you to make the right decisions further down the track. Of course, you’ll

also have interests other than the reasons why you want to buy a site, and those

could help shape your choices, too. For example, imagine I want to run a site as a

hobby, and toying with website code is my special interest. If that’s my primary

reason for wanting to buy a website, I’m lucky—practically any site I buy will let

3Define yourself

me indulge that interest. So I'm free to consider my other passions in choosing the

site’s topic. I might, for example, want to give back to my community somehow, or

support a cause that interests me, and that interest could drive my search for the

perfect site.

Think carefully about your interests and passions. Identify topics that genuinely

excite you, and give some thought to their profit potential. After all, if you choose

wisely, your site could be growing for years to come. You want to really enjoy it.

Your technical skillsIt’s crucial that you accurately and objectively assess your current technical skills,

as well as gauging your ability to develop them further.

If you don’t have the technical skills required to maintain and develop the site you

buy, you’ll either face what could be an overwhelming workload as you scramble

to learn what’s required, or have to pay someone else to do the technical work for

you. It’s best to acknowledge and accept your technical skills—and limitations—now,

so you can accurately anticipate the resources you’ll need to run your site in a way

that meets your other expectations.

Phone a friend

Not sure whether your HTML skills are intermediate or advanced? Convinced

your PHP capabilities are stellar? Double-check with a friend whose own technical

skills—and honest opinion—you respect. An independent assessment of your

capabilities might help you get a clear idea of the kinds of sites you should, and

shouldn’t, consider buying.

Make a list of all the technical capabilities you have, and rate them so that you have

a clear picture of your strongest skills. This exercise will also highlight the areas

where you could develop greater capability—that will narrow the field of sites to

consider, and may help you choose between potential purchases when the time

comes.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites4

Your marketing skillsAs we know, website marketing can take a variety of forms: advertising, search engine

marketing, affiliate programs and cross-promotions, social media and bookmark-

ing—and they’re just some of the online possibilities. Which aspects of marketing

have you had experience with? Which are you confident with? Think about your

skills, perhaps making brief notes that you can refer to as you peruse the for-sale

listings.

Then, each time you find a site that sounds good, you’ll be in a position to assess

how your capabilities might suit—and advance—the site. You’ll know immediately

how well your skills suit the marketing approach that’s currently being used to

promote the site. And if the seller can provide you with information about the

success of each tactic he or she has used, you’ll quickly see how your skills could

enhance the site’s marketing.

For example, if you’ve had a lot of experience with offline marketing, but little

other than ad sales in the digital space, you might face a big learning curve if the

site you’re considering has a low search engine rank and attracts little organic search

traffic. Consider boning up on the basics of SEO so that you’re not relying on search

advertising for the search traffic your site attracts.

On the other hand, your offline marketing skills might be well-suited to the promo-

tion of a site that’s geographically targeted—for example, a site that serves users in

your town or region. If you find a site that meets the needs of your local market, but

hasn’t been promoted offline, you may perceive solid potential for a broader mar-

keting approach in which your skills can add real value—and significantly boost

traffic and audience numbers.

Again, making a list of your marketing skills and experience is a good idea, so that

you can refer to it periodically as you search for sites to purchase. By reminding

yourself where your strengths lie and what aspects of marketing really interest you,

you can focus on sites whose marketing will be an intriguing experiment rather

than a big burden.

5Define yourself

Your available timeThere are far too few hours in the day! Underestimate how much time you have to

spend running, maintaining, and upgrading your new acquisition, and you may

wind up overwhelmed and overworked. That’s the best-case scenario; the worst is

that you’ll give up on the site entirely, sticking your head in the sand and losing

the value of your investment in the process.

Few of us buy a site with the intention of spending 40 working hours on it each

week. For almost all website buyers, the new acquisition is a sideline either to paid

work, a portfolio of existing online properties, or the other aspects of our busy lives.

It’s important to be realistic about the amount of time you can reasonably put into

building up the site you buy.

Time isn’t just about hours in the day or spots in your schedule. It’s also about you

forming realistic expectations of the timeframes in which you’ll be able to make

things happen on your new site, or reach particular milestones. There’s no point

setting a goal—attracting a given number of subscribers by the year’s end, for ex-

ample—if you only have a couple of hours to dedicate to that task between now

and December 31.

How much time?

When you’re adding up the hours you have available each week to work on your

new site, keep in mind the fact that you’ll likely have to do routine maintenance

and running tasks in that time, as well as longer-term site-building activities like

strategic marketing, redevelopments, and so on. So when you see a seller estimate

that their site takes ten hours a week to run, don’t think, “Great! I’ve got ten hours!

This is perfect.” Remember that running a site doesn’t necessarily mean developing

and improving it—those ten hours are likely needed just to keep the thing ticking

over.

To build and improve that site, you’ll need more than ten hours a week. How

much more? That depends on the nature of the site, your skills, and the goals you

have for it. Itemize these considerations as part of your site assessment process,

and estimate how much time each might take. Then, and only then, will you have

any idea how much time it may take to make the site you want to buy a real suc-

cess.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites6

Your available time will help determine what you’re able to achieve with the site

you buy. It should also help you to eliminate sites whose day-to-day running requires

more time than you have.

Your available fundsObviously, a key element of an acquisition is the price you can afford to spend on

a website. While you may be willing to pay more for a site that meets your particular

needs, it’s best to come to grips with an actual figure that you’re looking to spend

before you start researching properties.

Having a figure in your head will help you eliminate offerings that are simply out

of the ballpark. It will also help you work through negotiations with the seller when

the time comes. A spending limit may also make you smarter about negotiating

certain benefits as part of the sale package—domains, a handover period, and so

on—rather than simply taking whatever the seller offers.

Should I borrow to buy?

If you’re considering borrowing money to buy a site, do your homework. Most

financial institutions won’t lend you the money without seeing firm and detailed

business plans, financial records and projections, and so on. To borrow from

friends or family can be just as challenging, but in different ways. An inability to

replay the debt if things go wrong can cause family tensions, damage relationships,

and put people you care about in financial hardship.

Borrowing to buy website is a big risk; make sure you’re aware of, and comfortable

with, the potential for fallout before you commit to borrowing the money.

A spending limit can help you focus on sites that represent value—rather than

simply having the right price. Let’s say you have $1,000 to spend. You find two

sites, priced around $400 each. Neither is very developed, but you could buy both

and work on them if you wished. Then you find a site for sale at $990. It’s better

developed, has a larger audience and subscriber base, and a greater potential in the

immediate and longer terms. If you want the get the biggest bang for your buck,

you’ll most likely dedicate your time to doing due diligence for this more expensive

site, since it represents better value even at first glance.

7Define yourself

Finally, having a spending limit may allow you to make practical, goal-oriented

plans for the site you buy—and eliminate options that don’t fit the bill. Let’s look

again at those two sites you can buy for $400 each. That sounds good—and you’ll

still have $200 to play with! But on inspection, you may realize that bringing those

sites up to a standard you’re happy with—and that puts you on a path to reaching

your goals for the sites—will require technical skills you don’t have. You’ll need

to pay a professional developer to do that work. How much? You’ll have to get an

estimate to find out. You also want to try using pay-per-click advertising to promote

the sites, so you’ll need to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a trial. Suddenly,

it’s looking a lot like you’ll only be able to afford one of those $400 sites, not both.

Your payback expectationsThis consideration combines a number of the factors we’ve already looked at: your

motivations for buying the site, your available time and skillset, and the amount of

cash you’re willing to spend on a site.

Your payback expectation refers to the timeframe in which you want to break even

on the site—that is, the timeframe in which you want to make from the site the

amount of money you’ve spent on it. If you bought the site for $2,500, when will

you want the site to have earned you $2,500? How much of your own time are you

willing to put in before you earn that value?

If you pay others to work on the site once you’ve bought it, add those figures to the

purchase price to arrive at an overall sum you’ll need to earn to break even on the

purchase. You’ll also likely spend time maintaining, promoting, and building the

site you buy, and perhaps you’ll decide that you’d like to generate a certain return

on that time as well.

In the case of our example—the passive income website—we know that you intend

to use that income to go to Mexico next spring. That means that you’ll have to have

broken even before spring, because you want the site to generate cash that you can

use for the trip. If it only breaks even the week before you go, you’d be better off to

simply save the money you’re planning to spend on the site, because that would

likely entail a lower risk than making this investment.

Deciding in advance roughly when you hope to have earned back the money you

invested to buy the site will help you to discern between viable deals, and deals

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites8

that look good on the surface, but actually aren’t all that great. Setting a reasonable

payback expectation for yourself up front is one of the factors that will help you

make a smart purchase decision.

Your exit strategyRemember the first question we asked, about your motivations for buying the site?

You’ll probably revisit those motivations as you define what your exit strategy is.

An exit strategy basically outlines what you intend to happen to end your involve-

ment with the site you buy. The last thing you’ll want is for the site to simply waste

and die—that’s no way to manage an investment that will take hours of your time,

as well as a sum of money, to create. Options for your exit strategy will vary depend-

ing on the reasons why you’re considering buying the site. You may want to:

■ sell the site to someone else for a higher price than you paid for it

■ merge the site and its userbase with a website you already own

■ develop the site to be self-sustaining within two years, so that it takes you no

more than two hours each month to run, yet provides income for the other online

ventures you’re involved in

■ keep running and improving the site until you die, at which point you’ll will it

to a relative or friend

As you can see, defining your exit strategy is valuable because it can help you to

assess how appropriate various sites are to your goals. If you give your exit strategy

a timeframe, as we did in the third point above, you’ll be able to investigate how

likely a site you’re considering is to let you achieve that objective within the time-

frame you’ve set. If the site can’t be made self-sufficient within your two-year limit,

you can eliminate it from your list of potential candidates.

Putting it all togetherThe world of buying websites is fast-paced, exciting, and heady. It’s all too easy to

get carried away on the spur of the moment and regret your actions later. In this

chapter we’ve outlined a series of factors the astute buyer will define before

9Define yourself

searching for websites to buy. By working through the points we’ve discussed here,

you should end up with:

■ an understanding of your motivations for buying a site, and topics that interest

you

■ an understanding of your technical and marketing strengths and weaknesses

■ time and financial investment limits

■ a payback timeframe for the investment

■ a timed plan for exiting your involvement with the site

You can see how each of these considerations plays into all the others. You can also

see that this knowledge can help you to set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic,

and timely (SMART) goals by which you can gauge the success of your efforts to

run and develop the website you buy.

Rarely will any one of these factors be a deal-maker or -breaker. Most commonly,

it’s a combination of elements that will propel you to purchase a certain website,

or eliminate it from your considerations. But knowing what you want, and why,

can smooth the path to finding suitable candidate sites, and reduce not just the time

you spend researching sites, but also the risk you take in making a purchase.

Now that we’ve spent a little time looking inward, it’s time to look outward, at the

market in which you intend to buy.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites10

Chapter2Define your searchYou know what you want. But where will you find it? The answer lies in carefully

defining the kinds of sites you’d like to buy.

In the last chapter, we defined a set of criteria that reflected your needs and expect-

ations, and should have helped you clarify what you’d consider “success” in buying

and improving a website.

In this chapter, we’ll take those criteria and transpose them into actual search

parameters that you can use to find properties for sale that might suit your needs.

The key parameters we’ll define are:

■ the niche■ technologies■ your budget

Let’s get started.

Defining the nicheIn the first chapter, we defined your interests and motivations. Look at those, and

you should be able to apply them to a niche fairly easily.

If you recall, we imagined you wanted to run a site that generated a passive income,

since you work full-time, and you were hoping to save some extra money to go to

Mexico next spring. A passive income site is one that generates income on its own,

without your having to constantly work to update its content or offerings. That

means that some types of sites won’t be appropriate for you. You may not want to

buy a forum site, for example, if it needed ongoing, regular administration in order

to keep visitors coming back, and revenue coming in.

The other aspect of defining your niche is, of course, to look at your interests. We

considered a range of interests that you might have in the previous chapter. Now

it’s time to look at the market niches they might represent.

Let’s say that your interest in visiting Mexico next spring stems from your abiding

passion for Latin American prehistory, and camping, and that you’ve made various

friends on past camping trips to the country. As we saw above, you also know

Spanish. You feel excited by the idea of running a site that relates somehow to these

passions. The kinds of niches you might consider include:

■ travel in Latin America■ camping in Mexico■ Latin American history■ Latin American archaeological sites■ traveling in Latin America for Spanish-speakers

You have a number of niches here. Rather than immediately setting your heart on

one or another, try to keep your options open.

To get an idea of the potential of each niche, you’d search for those keywords on

Google (to get a feel for the kinds of sites that already operate in the niche) and un-

dertaking a little keyword research using the Google AdWords keyword research

tool.1 As you can see in the figure below, the tool offers two services: a Keyword

1 https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites12

Tool that indicates phrases that resemble the keywords you’ve entered, and a Traffic

Estimator that tells you the number of searches logged for those keywords each

month around the world. For this example, we’ve entered the search phrase “travel

in Latin America” and selected English and Spanish as the search languages that

we’re interested in.

Figure 2.1. Using the Google AdWords Traffic Estimator to research a niche

As you can see, this phrase is currently attracting 3,600 global searches monthly,

1,600 of them locally. The phrase “travel in Mexico” logs 135,000 global monthly

searches and 90,500 local monthly searches. This might encourage you to narrow

your niche to focus specifically on Mexico—or to swap “Mexico” in that search

phrase for some of the other Latin American countries whose history interests you.

Next, you might research the niche topic of historical sites in Mexico, and possibly

other Latin American countries, to see what the competition and search traffic is

like for those niches.

AdWords values

This tool also provides you with estimates of the amount you’ll pay if you buy

AdWords advertising for the keywords you’re searching on. This can be really

handy if you’re thinking of generating an income for your site using online advert-

ising.

13Define your search

By a process of trial and error, you’ll gain a feel for which types of information are

in greatest demand. Do some web searches in those niches and you’ll learn who

else is operating in that space, and what they offer. You may also get ideas for

techniques you could use to generate a passive income from your site—affiliate

products you could offer, advertisers you could approach, and so on.

Camping in Mexico may seem like a narrow niche, but it’s important to remember

that while that’s the niche you want to operate in, it’s not necessarily the niche in

which you want to search for properties. You might set up a search for sites that

are for sale in the travel, vacation, holiday, and camping niches. In fact, a search

for “camping” on Flippa turned up 108 results at the time of writing.

Defining the technologyIn the previous chapter, you listed your technical skills, and perhaps rated them so

that you had an objective idea of where your technical strengths lay. As you define

your search, it’s a good idea to drop those technologies into the mix. This way,

you’ll avoid trawling through search results for sites that use .NET if you’re a PHP

whiz, for example. And if you’re planning to use a developer to help you work on

the site, include the technologies they’re proficient with among the search terms

you set.

If your technical skills are minimal, and you’d like to restrict searches to sites that,

for example, use a standard content management system and interface, such as

WordPress, keep that requirement in mind as you review the results of your search.

Don’t let a lack of technical capabilities lead you to think you don’t need to list any

technology-related search parameters. Instead, define the content management, ad

management, and other systems you do want to use.

Defining the budgetWe set a spending limit for your purchase in the previous chapter. Most website

listing sites will encourage you to enter a price range to refine your search, and you

may consider entering a maximum price that’s slightly higher than your spending

limit if you’re confident of your ability to negotiate potential sellers down to your

level.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites14

On the other hand, as we saw earlier, your spending limit may represent the total

of the funds you have available to spend on the site in the immediate future. This

means that you’ll have to deduct any other expenditures—on development, redesign,

marketing, or other activities—that your purchase will require from that overall

sum. In that case, a decision to spend all your funds on the purchase itself would

only be wise if you yourself could handle any extra work you needed to do to op-

timize or improve the site in the foreseeable future.

The lower end of the price range you enter is also important. Look around at sites

on offer in the lower price ranges, and you’ll soon identify a rough price point at

which the listings begin to reflect the level of site you’re after. Make this the lower

end of your price range. Otherwise, you risk wasting time and energy reviewing

sites that don’t meet your needs for the other criteria you’ve defined for your pur-

chase.

Is my budget reasonable?

Spend an hour researching the sites for sale in your niche, or related niches, and

you’ll be able to glean a fair picture of what you can get for the budget you have

available. This is the best way to adjust your expectations to a reasonable level.

Try not to be swayed by bargain-basement-bonanza stories about buyers who have

landed incredible sites for rock-bottom prices. Instead, focus on developing reas-

onable expectations about what’s fair, and what you can, and want to, get for your

money.

Using search tools and alertsNow that you’ve defined the three key criteria you’ll use to search for available

online properties—the niche, technologies, and budget—it’s time to plug that in-

formation into a search tool.

Let’s look at the Flippa search tool as an example.

By default, this tool lets you enter a keyword (reflecting your niche, or a related

niche, perhaps) and provides preset searches based on price ranges, revenue figures,

and PageRank, for example. But this tool also lets you refine your searches on a

number of important variables, including the listing type (auction or private sale),

the website type (established sites, new sites, domain-only listings), and so on. If

15Define your search

you click on the parameter you want to use to refine your search, you’ll be able to

specify your preferences for that parameter. Of course, you can also add specific

keywords to restrict your search further. A detailed post on the Flippa blog explains

these refinements in detail.2

So for the site we’re searching to buy, we might select a price range of $500–2,000,

and select new and established sites (leaving domain-only sales unchecked), as

shown below. We could also refine our initial keyword search, for “camping,” to

also include listings for “vacation,” “outdoors,” and so on.

Figure 2.2. Refining our search for properties on Flippa

2 http://flippa.com/blog/advanced-search/

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites16

Once you’ve set the preferences for specific search variables, click on the “Update

Search” button to see all the listings that meet your needs. Most website listing sites

and services operate similarly to this basic model, though their individual search

facilities may vary. Like most sites, Flippa displays a “Save Search” button that, if

you click on it, will save that search to your Flippa account (you’ll be asked to log

in first, if you haven’t already done so). This way, you can easily check listings that

meet your chosen parameters, any time you visit the site.

But what about the times when you’re not logged into Flippa? A handy tool that

ensures you never miss a website listed in your category is automated alerts. Again,

most website listing sites will offer automatic updates via email or RSS; at Flippa,

you can request automated RSS alerts by clicking on the “Subscribe to this search”

link shown in the image below to subscribe to an RSS feed. These alerts let you

know whenever a new listing appears that meets the criteria you’ve set, and they’re

a good way to stay on top of the sales activity in your niche, and those related to it.

Figure 2.3. The automated alert options on Flippa

Putting it all togetherIn this chapter, we’ve turned your dreams of website ownership into actions. We’ve

transposed what might have seemed like nebulous concepts—your interests and

17Define your search

motivations, among other things—into real-world search criteria, and we’ve used

them to create and save searches on Flippa. We’ve also subscribed to automated

RSS updates from the site, which will take all the hassle out of your website search.

As we explained, any website listing site worth its salt will offer similar search

functionality that makes it easy for you to access website listings that meet your

criteria. Now, you can sit back and wait for the listings to come rolling into your

RSS feed. Easy!

Well, sort of. The adventure is only just beginning. Having website alerts sent to

you is one thing; wading through them is another. And actually identifying gems

among the everyday listings is something else entirely. This is what we’ll look at

next.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites18

Chapter3Understand the opportunitySo, a website listing has popped up in your alerts, you’ve checked it out, and you

think it looks good. Great! But … how can you tell a good website from a poor one?

How do you glean the information you need from a website listing? How can you

ensure you don’t miss potentially great buys?

Before you hit the “Bid” button, you need to do your research. Research reduces

risk, and the chance that you’ll end up buying a dud, being ripped off, and losing

your money (and self-respect!).

As a site buyer, you need to develop skills in assessing the offerings that come your

way in website alerts. When a website catches your eye for some reason, you’ll want

to drill down in order to really understand the nature, breadth, and depth of the

opportunity it represents. That’s what this chapter is all about.

Understanding the opportunities you spot entails two key components: knowing

the site that’s on offer, and knowing the seller who’s offering it. In the coming pages

we’ll look at these considerations in detail, assessing everything from traffic and

revenue stats to seller testimonials and personal details. We’ll wrap up by looking

at the most common pitfalls you’ll face as you research an opportunity, and explain

some tips to avoid them.

Hone your search

If your alert keeps sending you sites that don’t meet your needs, consider heading

back to Chapter 2 and revising your search criteria further. Within a short space

of time spent reviewing inappropriate listings, you’ll be able to identify where

your search has room for improvement. Continuously honing it is a good way to

maximize your exposure to desirable properties, and fast-track your education in

website buying.

Knowing the siteAny website listing will contain information about the website—its vital statistics,

so to speak. Here’s an example: one of the listings on Flippa.

Figure 3.1. A website listing on Flippa

The level of detail in a website listing will depend on the data requirements that

the listing site places on sellers, and the seller’s own willingness to provide inform-

ation. Some sellers will provide as much information as they possibly can; others

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites20

may want to keep information out of sight of the general public—though they may

be happy to give it to you if you contact them directly and ask for it.

Ask questions

The fastest, easiest way to get access to the information you need is to ask the

seller directly. At Flippa, the best place to ask your question is in the listing’s

comments section, which is pictured below.

Figure 3.2. Asking questions of a Flippa seller

The public comments on Flippa allow for clear communication between the seller

and all potential buyers. They’re a good way to get a feel for how helpful and open

the seller is—not just with you, but with other potential buyers of the website.

Keep watch for Flippa warnings

Flippa automatically provides warnings when it’s identified that the data the

seller has entered doesn’t add up, or disagrees with the information verified with

independent, third-party sources.

For full details of Flippa warnings, see the Flippa Help pages on this topic.1

1 https://flippa.com/help/topics/warning

21Understand the opportunity

The details you’ll most likely consider—and those which form the basis of almost

every website listing—are traffic, revenue, and content-related data. There may also

be a range of extra information you’ll want to research.

No data?

Some of the listings you review may include little or no data about the website.

Perhaps it’s brand new and has no traffic or revenue. Perhaps the Facebook page

is set up, but its only fan is the site seller. Perhaps the content’s not original, either.

How will you know what’s a fair and reasonable price for this site? You won’t.

It’s virtually impossible to predict the value of site that has no operational history.

Given the plethora of free content management systems, click-to-go design themes,

and sites like 99designs.com2 and Fiverr.com3 that offer professional skills at

bargain rates, you’d likely be better off spending a rainy afternoon creating your

own site from scratch than paying too much good money for one on which you

can’t yet predict any kind of return.

TrafficIt’s easy to assume that higher traffic levels translate to a higher website price—but

the equation is rarely that simple.

Traffic isn’t just a number: traffic means people, and those people are your audience.

Recall the goals that you’ve defined for your site. Your audience will play a large

part in whether or not you achieve them. So traffic is extremely important.

The first step to take is to review the site’s historical data for pageviews, or “impres-

sions,” and unique visitors, or “uniques.” You can think of uniques as indicating

the site’s reach or penetration within a given market segment, and pageviews as

representing the site’s popularity within its audience. Unique visitor figures may

also represent the site’s potential to generate revenue through direct product or

service sales, while pageviews represent the potential for online advertising revenue

generation.

2 http://99designs.com3 http://fiverr.com

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites22

If you can, obtain data that spans the site’s entire history—this will give you an idea

of how the audience for the site has developed and the pace at which it’s grown.

You may also spot jumps or dips in traffic levels that you can ask the seller about.

Their answers may give you insight into the nature of the audience, as well as traffic-

generation tactics that have or haven’t worked in the past—information that may

well influence your buying decision.

Just the stats, ma’am

If the website listing doesn’t contain all the traffic data you want to see, contact

the seller and list the information you would like access to. If the seller’s hesitant

to give you any information, take that as a warning sign: they may be trying to

hide something that’s buried in the data, or they may have falsified the information

in the website listing.

Once you’ve got your head around the basics of the site’s traffic levels, look deeper

at the nature and quality of the traffic the site’s attracting. There are a number of

factors to consider here:

Stickiness and bounce rates

A site’s bounce rate describes the percentage of visits that don’t extend beyond

the first page of the site they land on. Couple this figure with the average pages-

per-visit and time-on-site stats, and you’ll have a good idea of the depth in

which visitors tend to use the site on the occasions they visit. A high bounce

rate may indicate that the users have difficulty finding information they’re in-

terested in, or that they visit the site frequently, so they don’t really need to

look into the content archives—check the returning visitor stats to see if they

support this conclusion.

New or returning visitors

Statistics packages like Google Analytics4 contain new and returning visitor

data, which can be a good gauge of site users’ loyalty, as well as how effective

the owner’s efforts to reach new audience members have been.

4 http://www.google.com/analytics/

23Understand the opportunity

Country of origin

Audiences in some countries are regarded as being easier to monetize than those

from other locations. As such, traffic from developed, wealthy nations may have

a greater potential value than that from less developed countries. Of course, the

value of the traffic will also depend on the nature of your site and what you’re

selling or advertising—don’t forget cultural considerations as you assess this

factor.

Traffic sources

The sources of the traffic the site attracts are also an important consideration.

Visitors who reach the site using search engines may be more likely to read the

information they find on the site. In some cases, they may represent a good op-

portunity to gain new loyal site users. Traffic that reaches the site directly—these

users have already bookmarked the site, or remember its URL—are most likely

to be loyal visitors who are conscious of the value the site offers, and respond

to its advice and recommendations. Traffic that comes from backlinks on other

sites may be difficult to turn into a loyal audience in particular market niches

where backlinking is common and word-of-mouth recommendations are often

given for affiliate marketing purposes.

Has traffic been bought?

Some unscrupulous site owners may buy traffic in the months leading up to

listing their site for sale. That’s why it’s important to view the traffic stats for

as many months as possible (more on this below), and to look beyond total

traffic figures to understand where the traffic is originating, and why.

Ask for Google Analytics

Google Analytics does not include robot traffic in a site’s visitor statistics,

but other packages do. To be on the safe side, always ask for Google Analytics

reports for the sites you’re researching.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites24

Is that verified?

Good website marketplaces will verify at least some of the stats that the seller

presents. On Flippa, Google Analytics stats are verified, among others. Once

this is done, the document is marked as such, and appears in the listing as

shown below.

Figure 3.3. Verified statistics displayed on a Flippa listing

Check the Due Diligence page for every Flippa listing you’re researching;

specifically, look at the Technology Used section. If that shows that the Google

Analytics package has been applied to the site, but the Analytics reports aren’t

included with the listing itself, beware: the site owner might be trying to keep

some information about the traffic hidden from potential buyers.

For more on data verification, see the Flippa Help page on this topic.5

Historical data

When you’re reviewing a site’s traffic data, the more you have—and the further

back in time it stretches—the better. So try to get stats back as far as possible,

ideally to the date the site was launched. Think of stats as a months-and-years

proposition, rather than a matter of days and weeks.

Take a look at historical data and you’ll be in a position to identify any sudden

jumps or slumps in traffic levels, or traffic from particular sources, which can

tip you off to potential problems (e.g. traffic fell when the site was banned from

a certain directory or search engine). Also be particularly cautious about sites

whose traffic has risen considerably in recent weeks or months—as mentioned

above, this may indicate that traffic has been bought to make the site more ap-

pealing, or that the site owner is using some other unsustainable means of at-

tracting low-value, non-repeat visitors.

5 https://flippa.com/help/verify-listing-data

25Understand the opportunity

When you ask the site owner for more information about certain traffic events

that show up in this historical data, be sure to do your own independent research

to back up whatever claims they make. If the owners say a new site design at-

tracted—and kept—more visitors, check the Wayback Machine6 to confirm the

rough date the new design launched. If they say traffic spiked when they bought

some advertising on a leading site in the niche, contact that site to ask for con-

firmation of the deal. Check the validity of every piece of information you can

with external, third-party sources.

As you’ve probably guessed, it’s difficult to make blanket statements about traffic

data. What’s appropriate for a given site will depend on the site itself, its objectives,

its history, and its audience. Whatever the stats are, though, your job is to understand

what they say, in composite, about the audience and the site you’re considering.

To buy a site without understanding its traffic data is a big risk—and one you should

avoid.

RevenueEvery website listing is likely to include a revenue figure of some sort, and ideally,

will also identify how that revenue was generated.

Like traffic figures, revenue isn’t just revenue. You need to consider a range of

contributing factors in assessing a site’s revenue figures:

Traffic levels

How much traffic has been required to generate the revenues? Does a particular

audience segment account for a disproportionate amount of revenue?

Monetization methods

How has the revenue been achieved? Are there obvious methods that the site

owner hasn’t tried, and if so, why haven’t they been used? A gap in the revenue

strategy may simply indicate a lack of time or experience on the site owner’s

part, or it may suggest that the audience is difficult to monetize in certain ways.

Each Flippa listing includes an at-a-glance overview of monetization methods,

which looks like the one shown here.

6 http://www.archive.org/

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites26

Figure 3.4. Listing the methods used to monetize a website at Flippa

Expenses

What has it cost the seller to generate those revenues? Don’t just consider finan-

cial outlays—look at time invested in development, marketing, and maintenance

too.

Revenues over time

Are the revenue levels rising, falling, or constant? What does their performance

over time say about the site's long-term monetization potential? Again, by re-

viewing these figures and asking the seller pertinent questions, you may be able

to perceive opportunities for the site’s monetization, or identify it as a dud.

You should be particularly careful when you’re assessing the revenue figures

provided with a listing. Watch out for listings that only include average monthly

revenue claims, as these may hide revenue instability, or the fact that the site hasn’t

been online for very long. Also beware of revenue estimates, which are identified

on Flippa with a warning, as shown here.

Figure 3.5. A revenue estimate warning on Flippa

An estimate is just that: a projection of how much revenue the seller feels the site

could earn, or an approximation of how much they reckon the site has earned.

27Understand the opportunity

Beware “projected revenue”

Often, sellers who have no data to back up their revenue claims, or have no rev-

enue to show, will try to make their site seem more appealing by including pro-

jected revenue figures. As we explained in this detailed blog post on the topic,7

projected revenues always need to be taken with a grain of salt. Don’t accept them

at face value. Instead, do your own research, and prepare your own revenue pro-

jections based on what you’ve found out about the site, its audience, its offering,

and your skills and plans for its future development.

Any sellers who care about their sites (and their cashflows) will have the figures to

back up their revenue claims, so take extreme care with any estimates. Even the

most honest, well-meaning sellers are likely to overstate the revenue potential of a

site that they’ve slaved over and loved—it’s only natural. Instead, focus your atten-

tion on sites whose revenues can be verified, and that have some longevity so that

you can understand how they’ve changed over time. This really is the best way to

understand and minimize the risk you face in buying a site from which you hope

to generate an income.

Not the monetizing type?

As we saw earlier in this report, monetization may not be among the objectives

you have for your site. Does that mean you should ignore monetization data? No

way!

Firstly, verifying the revenue figures may give you a sense of the seller’s credibility

and willingness to help the ownership transition go smoothly. Equally important

is the fact that, although you may not want to concern yourself with monetizing

the site now, you may change your mind at a later date (those hosting a domain

registration bills do add up, even on a site that’s a labor of love). So you’ll want

to have access to the site’s revenue history, and an understanding of the figures,

before you make the decision to buy.

Currently, there’s no way to verify the authenticity of either screenshots or videos

of site owners accessing the site’s traffic stats. This information can be faked—some

dishonest site owners may even present vetted stats from another similar site in

7 http://flippa.com/blog/value-of-websites-for-sale-with-potential-revenue/

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites28

place of those for the site you’re considering! It’s important to check whatever in-

formation is supplied very carefully indeed, and use your other research to try to

ascertain the honesty of the site owner overall.

ContentUnique content is where the value is at in the online space. Content and intellectual

property are assets. Plagiarism is rife on the Web, and it’s illegal. No copycat sites

ever manage to maintain a good search rank, and if you own a site that contains il-

legally reproduced content—images, files, or text—you’ll be legally liable for each

and every one of those copyright infringements.

If you’re prepared to invest your hard-earned dollars in a website, make sure you

own the content of the site you buy. Ask the seller specifically if the site sale includes

transfer of content and IP ownership, not just the rights to use the content or IP.

Content includes all aspects of a site: its brand, design or layout, text content, im-

agery, downloadable files, code, and more. When you’re buying a site, confirm

which of that website’s assets you’ll own exclusive rights to, and which are reused

under Creative Commons8 or similar licenses.

Do not assume that the seller’s word is a guarantee of copyright compliance. Some

sellers may try to deliberately mislead you, but some may have bought the site

earlier on the assumption that the content is all original, and may not realize that

this is not the case. Still others will have a very loose grasp of what copyright actually

entails, and what constitutes an infringement. Always do your own research.

A good place to start is to look at the site seller’s history—check the sites they’ve

sold in the past. If they’ve previously sold what look like different versions of the

site you’re considering, take a close look at the content—it may well be the same

on all sites. In that case, you can be sure that you won’t own that content.

More website listing sites are now providing information on the uniqueness of site

content since plagiarism has become such an issue for site buyers. On Flippa, the

seller is asked to state whether the site’s content and design are unique, and that

information is presented as part of the listing, as you can see here.

8 http://creativecommons.org/

29Understand the opportunity

Figure 3.6. Flippa’s uniqueness information

The extended due diligence for the listing also reveals how many potential copies

the site has online, as shown below.

Figure 3.7. Copyscape warnings displaying in the listing’s Extended Due Diligence data

If the listed site appears to have copies around the Web, you may be looking at a

website that doesn’t contain unique content, as is the case in the example shown

here. Note that “copies” may not be cases where another person has copied the

content from the site you’re considering, and published it themselves. It may be

that the site that’s listed for sale itself contains copies of content from elsewhere.

In either case, look closely at any copies so that you understand what’s going on,

and can hypothesize from an informed position about what that may mean for the

future success of the site you’re assessing. And regardless of the information in the

listing, do some sleuthing of your own. Cut and paste a few sentences from the site

into a search engine, put quotation marks around them, and check out the results

of your search. If those sentences are replicated elsewhere online, look more closely

at the site’s content to ensure that you’re purchasing legitimate content.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites30

He said, she said

If there’s a dispute around the ownership of the site’s content—the owner says

the content’s theirs, but it seems to belong to someone else—try accessing past

versions of the sites in the Wayback Machine.9 You might be able to track down

the date of first publication of the information, and solve the dispute once and

for all.

ExtrasMany listings will offer “extras” along with the site. The seller may throw additional

related domain names, social media accounts, transition support, or other bonuses

into the sale. Sometimes these sweeteners are used to try to add value to a poor of-

fering; other times, they may legitimately be included as part of a package sale that

makes logical business sense.

Flippa provides WHOIS information on the main domain for the website being sold,

as you can see in the image below. However, it’s a good idea to confirm ownership

of all the domains included in the sale, check the activity, longevity, and popularity

of the social media accounts listed, and confirm, in the listing’s comments, exactly

what sort of transition support is offered.

Figure 3.8. WHOIS data for the listing’s main domain on Flippa

Inspect any extras that are included in the deal very closely, and consider what

value they may represent both now and in the future. By the time you’ve got to this

point in your assessment of a website for sale, you’ll likely be comfortable with the

other factors we’ve already discussed. But these extras—related domains, social

media handles—could give you a jump-start on taking ownership of the site, and

clear opportunities for expansion or development. It’s important that you assess

them carefully, and understand what they represent.

9 http://www.archive.org/

31Understand the opportunity

Other information

Of course, Flippa listings contain a range of other information about each website,

including PageRank, Alexa Rank, Google links, Compete Rank, SEOmoz Rank,

and more. This information may or may not be important to you—that will depend

on the goals you have for your site. But do take a look around the listing and Due

Diligence pages to familiarize yourself with the available data, and understand

what it means for you.

Also, don’t neglect to look further afield for information on the website you’re

buying. Searching forums (perhaps using the Google Groups10 archive) for discus-

sions about the site, the services and products it provides, and/or its owners might

turn up some interesting tidbits of information from real-world users.

Knowing the sellerThe site looks good … but what about the seller? Many a promising sale has fallen

through due to bad buyer–seller relations. And many a successful transfer of own-

ership has been undermined by a seller who was careless or uninterested in the

future of the site they were selling.

Getting to know the site’s seller is an important part of reaching a decision about a

site purchase. If you have any doubts about them, look deeper—at their exchanges

with other potential buyers, with the site’s users, staff, or associates, and so on. To

be truly confident about the site in question, you must be confident in the person

selling it.

On Flippa, getting to know the seller involves a number of steps.

Checking seller feedback and trust ratingsEach seller has a trust rating, and feedback percentage. The trust rating comprises

a number of factors, as shown here.

10 http://groups.google.com/

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites32

Figure 3.9. Trust rating components for a seller on Flippa

The higher the trust rating, the better the seller’s credentials appear in terms of these

factors.

However, there are other factors that come into a seller’s credibility—the way they

work with buyers, the approach they take to site transfer and payment acceptance,

and so on. The Feedback score reflects these less tangible factors. It appears, with

the trust rating information, alongside the seller profile on the listing page, like so.

Figure 3.10. Seller credentials display on the website listing page

The percentage figure reflects the percentage of positive feedback that has been left

about that seller. To access the feedback itself, click on the percentage link. You’ll

see a page like the one shown below—which should give you a good idea of what

you can expect if you engage in a transaction with this seller.

33Understand the opportunity

Figure 3.11. Seller feedback on Flippa

For detailed information on interpreting seller trust and feedback, see the related

Flippa Help page.11

Getting testimonialsThe next step in the getting-to-know-you journey is to try to get some first-hand

testimonials about the seller from other Flippa users who have bought websites

from that person. First of all, ask the seller if this is okay with them—do that through

the comments section on the listing of the website you’re considering. If they have

good feedback, they’ll likely be fine with the idea, so if they say no, try to find out

why that is.

Once you have their okay, select two or three other buyers from their feedback list

and contact those individuals directly via the Private Message links in their Flippa

profiles. Ask them if they can explain to you how the seller acted with them, and

for their honest feedback about the seller, the transaction, and the website they

bought.

What you’re trying to find out here is how the seller behaves with buyers—whether

that person is honest, easy to get in touch with, and reliable to work with. How

good are they at solving problems? How well do they adapt to accommodate the

different needs of each buyer? These factors are bound to impact the smoothness

of the sale and the transition of website ownership to you, so it’s important that you

feel comfortable with the answers you receive. And if you need to clarify anything

11 https://flippa.com/help/seller-feedback

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites34

about the feedback, either with the responding buyers or the seller, be sure to do

so.

Asking for name and locationOn Flippa, like most website listing sites, buyers and sellers are identified by user-

names and personal details are kept private. If you’re seriously considering a website,

ask the owner if they can private-message you their name and street address. If

you’ve already established your interest in the website by asking the seller questions,

discussing the website with them, and contacting past buyers they’ve worked with,

they should be happy to give you this information. If they can’t trust you with it,

you probably don’t have the strong relationship you’ll need to have the sale go

smoothly.

Swapsies

If the seller’s apprehensive about sharing their name and location, offer to give

them your own personal details first. This shows that you’re genuine and may

help to establish a sense of trust between the two of you.

You may be able to double-check the location information they give you with a

local phone directory, or against the information listed for their domain ownership

in WHOIS. But the main point here is to get a sense of whether the seller is open

and trusting, and, therefore, whether you can trust them.

Reviewing the sales historyIf your seller has sold properties before through the site, or is selling some now,

that information should be included in their profile. On Flippa, it’s displayed as

shown here.

35Understand the opportunity

Figure 3.12. Viewing the sales history on Flippa

This listing shows each sale, the pricing details, and how many bids the site received.

You can click on the links to access the sales listings, check out the comments, and

get a feel for how the sale went down—or is progressing.

Past performance is a good indicator of future performance, so if your research reveals

some aspects of the seller’s approach that make you uncomfortable, do consider

those. Maybe you’ll discuss them with the seller and resolve your apprehension.

Or maybe they’ll tip you off to potential issues that will dissuade you from progress-

ing with the purchase.

Understanding the reason for sellingA question buyers often ask is, “If this site is so great, why would you want to let

it go?”

Understanding the seller’s reasons for selling may provide with you with insight

into the struggles the current owner has faced—information that could be valuable

as you assess your own ability to develop the website further. They may have other

interests that they want to focus on in the same space, which may increase the

competition you’ll face if you make the purchase. Perhaps they’ve neglected the

site due to other priorities, so it’s actually lost value in recent times.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites36

A discussion of the reasons for selling may reveal opportunities that you weren’t

previously aware of. Perhaps you can use your skills to promote the site in ways,

or markets, in which the current owner has no experience. Perhaps the hurdles that

have stopped them from progressing the site are comparatively easy for you to

overcome.

If the seller’s getting out because they see no future in the niche, the site, or the

audience, or they’ve struggled to monetize the site, they’ll be unlikely to tell you

outright. Still, you may be able to glean this information from the data you’ve re-

viewed and the discussions you’ve had, and it should give you pause. Think very

hard about whether this purchase is for you. And if you don’t trust the reasons the

seller has given you for the sale, again, you’d be wise not to proceed with the sale.

Common traps to avoidDoing your due diligence on a sale is essential. Only once you’ve thoroughly invest-

igated the website and the seller, and assessed that information in light of your goals

and capabilities, can you tell a promising listing from a poor one.

That said, there are a number of common sale review traps that you should avoid.

If you see any of these elements in a sale you’re looking at, back off and reassess

your position.

Deleted comments

If a seller has deleted a number of comments from the sale listing, look out. A

seller may delete one or two irrelevant comments, but ideally, they won’t feel

the need to delete any comments from a listing. Deleted comments may indicate

that they have something to hide. Note also that not all website listing sites

show a deleted comment count.

Talk of “potential”

Be very careful around seller promises of “potential”—in terms of sales, market

size, or revenue. Ignore promises of overnight success, and remember: there’s

no such thing as a 100% passive sustainable income. That would be money for

nothing, and we all know that’s not a reality.

37Understand the opportunity

Uniqueness

Check to ensure that the design and content of the site are unique, using the

tips provided above. Also check with the buyer to ensure that the intellectual

property rights to the design, content, and code are included with the sale, if

that’s important to you.

Domain registration date

Domains can only be transferred from a registrar once 60 days have passed from

the date of registration. If you buy a site whose domain is younger than this,

you won’t be able to transfer the domain to the registrar of your choice until

that time period has elapsed. If that will cause problems for you, this sale may

not be the one you’re after.

Hosting arrangements

Make sure you understand the hosting arrangements for the site you’re consid-

ering. Again, some hosts lock site owners into plans that can be expensive or

difficult to break. If having control over the site’s hosting is important to you,

make sure that the sale won’t lock you into using a particular hosting arrange-

ment.

Guarantees

Buyer guarantees are not allowed on Flippa. If a seller offers you a guarantee

outside of their listing, you should remember that it will be largely unenforce-

able; often, such “guarantees” also come with tricky conditions (e.g. “get back-

links from Microsoft to boost SEO”).

Putting it all togetherAs we’ve seen in this chapter, Flippa collects, checks, and presents as much inform-

ation on each sale as possible. But as a buyer, you need to do your own research on

any website you’re considering before you place a bid.

Don’t assume that the fact that a website’s listed for sale on a site like Flippa means

it’s legitimate. Also, don’t take the facts and figures presented by a seller at face

value—always look more deeply into the data, the site, and the sellers themselves.

This is the only way to minimize the risks inherent in website trading—and the

number of sleepless nights you’re likely to endure.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites38

You’ve done well to get to this point. Perhaps your research has paid off and you’ve

found a site you’d like to bid on, and a seller you’d like to buy from. Let’s turn our

thoughts to what’s involved in engaging in a website auction.

39Understand the opportunity

Chapter4Engage in the auctionThis is it: the point at which all the time, research, and consideration you’ve put

into a potential website comes to the fore. Bidding for a website is different from

clicking around on eBay. For one thing, you’ll have hundreds or thousands of dollars

at stake. For another, the investment you’ve put into the website already—before

you place a bid—means that you have a lot riding on the outcome.

Keep in mind, too, that the way you behave in the auction will affect your trust

rankings and the feedback you receive on the site. If you want to continue to buy

and sell properties on Flippa, or establish an admirable reputation online—and

who doesn’t want that?!—you’ll need to conduct yourself well throughout the auc-

tion, regardless of what happens.

In this chapter, we’ll cover the key aspects to remember as the auction or sale pro-

gresses.

When to bidWebsite sales and auctions move quickly, and none of us wants to let a dream op-

portunity pass by. The important thing to remember if you’re feeling pressured

about a sale is that there are plenty more fish in the sea. Many’s the bidder who’s

missed out on a sale only to snap up something better suited to their needs in the

following weeks. Don’t let yourself fall into the this-is-the-one trap.

To play it safe, it’s best not to bid on a website until a number of criteria are met.

They’re explained in the checklist below.

Example 4.1. Pre-bid checklist

■ Have you set a spending limit?■ Have you conducted thorough research on the website?■ Are you satisfied that the site can meet the objectives and exit strategy you

defined?■ Are you confident that the buyer’s claims about the site are truthful?■ Have you verified crucial information about revenues, traffic, and content own-

ership?■ Are you satisfied with the domain, hosting and IP arrangements for the site?■ Have you conducted thorough research on the seller?■ Do you trust the seller?■ Are you comfortable with all of the terms of sale?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you are not ready to bid on the

website.

Trust your instincts when you’re preparing to bid on a website: if something seems

dubious, it probably is. Avoid the pain, hassle, and disappointment of making a

bad mistake by only bidding on properties that meet the criteria outlined here.

Accepted bids are legally binding

On Flippa, if your bid is accepted, it becomes a legally binding commitment to

buy. So don’t bid before you’re 100% certain you want the website.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites42

What you’re buyingWhat exactly are you buying here? If you don’t know, don’t bid. Use the comments

tool on the website listing to firm up any details of the sale that you’re not sure

about—including transfer of funds, transfer of the site, and any other fine points.

Don’t leave anything to interpretation, and be polite but firm about getting the in-

formation you need from the seller.

A reputable seller will respect and understand your need for full disclosure, and

will be happy to accommodate you. If they’re not, don’t bid.

Do I need a contract of sale?

As you discuss the website with the seller, and conduct your research, you may

decide that you’d like to use a contract of sale in the event that you win the auction.

In that case, discuss that with the seller, and ensure that they have time to review

the contract before the sale or auction ends. The contract of sale might include

the terms of the transaction, as well as outlining what assets are included in the

sale, where they’re located, how they’ll be transferred, and so on, and can help

to clarify the transaction for both parties.

The Flippa Help pages contain more information on using contracts of sale.1

What to bidBack in Chapter 1, we set a spending limit for your purchase, and in Chapter 2, we

refined this into a budget that took into account the amounts you might need to

spend to bring the site up to a standard at which you’re happy to operate for a while.

Your assessment of potential properties should have included mini-budgets in

which you worked out how much you’d need to spend on getting each website up

to a standard you’re satisfied with, and those budgets will come in handy as you

begin to place bids. Know what your limit is, and commit to it before you place a

bid.

On Flippa, the seller may reject your bid. There may be any number of reasons for

this, so if you’re curious, contact the bidder and ask them about it. You may find

1 https://flippa.com/help/contract-of-sale

43Engage in the auction

that they’ve already earmarked a buyer that they’d prefer to sell to, for example, or

that they felt your bid wasn’t serious. In that case, you can offer to negotiate with

them on the price and sale inclusions.

Given the fact that you may end up negotiating with a seller, don’t go for broke with

your initial bid. Try to pace yourself (and your funds!) so that you can outlast some

of the other potential buyers who might be competing with you.

Should I Buy It Now?

The Buy It Now feature on website auction sites allows you to purchase the website

on the spot for the value shown. On Flippa, it appears as shown below.

Figure 4.1. Flippa’s Buy It Now option

By using this option, you do cut out potential competition, and increase your

chance of winning the auction or sale, but in the process, you lose your ability to

negotiate. By clicking “Buy It Now,” you accept the terms of the sale as they are,

so you forfeit the chance to see where the auction or sale leads, and to make the

most of that process. Only you can balance the pros and cons of such a de-

cision—and they’re likely to be different for each website you consider. For more

on the Buy It Now feature, see Flippa’s Help pages.2

Don’t ever exceed the spending limit you’ve set. You created your budget for the

acquisition in a calm, well-informed state of mind, but you may bid from a less ra-

tional position. Don’t let emotion overcome common sense, though: you made a

budget with good reason. By cutting corners or trying to rejig the budget to free up

funds for the website purchase at the last minute, you may undermine your potential

for success in the long run. Perhaps you’ll have the site, but not enough ready cash

2 https://flippa.com/help/topics/buyitnow

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites44

to overhaul the design or pay for the advertising that was going to be your first step

toward achieving your goals for the site.

Why are they bidding so much?

Don’t use the number or value of bids on a website as an indicator of that website’s

worth. If others outbid you for a website, that may be because they have different

plans for it than you have. Perhaps they already own properties that they can

leverage to develop the site in question. Maybe they have access to skills or exper-

ience that you’d have to pay market rates for. Understand the value of each indi-

vidual opportunity before you bid. And remember: its value to you may be different

from its value to someone else.

Don’t fall into this trap. Bid only what you can afford, bid rationally, and pace your

bidding so that you can outlast others and, potentially, win the website.

Putting it all togetherBidding is an exciting time, but it’s important to keep it in perspective. Only bid

once you’re 100% sure that you want the website, and remember that an accepted

bid is legally binding.

Don’t get carried away by the moment, or obsessed by the actions of other bid-

ders—just focus on your intentions, hold that budget figure firmly in mind, and

keep your eye on the prize. With determination, good timing, and a little luck, that

website you’ve been researching could be yours!

45Engage in the auction

Chapter5Complete the transactionYou bid … and you won! Congratulations: you’re now the proud owner of a new

website. Er … well, it’s not in your possession yet. All you know is you’re legally

bound to pay the seller the full amount you bid. So, what happens now?

In this chapter, we’ll step through the after-sale process you need to follow to ensure

that the transaction goes smoothly, and the digital assets you’ve bought are in your

hot little hands ASAP. We’ll also show you how to avoid the common traps to which

new buyers often fall prey.

Making it yoursAt the end of the sale or auction, you’ll be notified—by email or RSS, whichever

method you’ve chosen—if you’ve won the website. How can you ensure that the

transfer of funds and digital assets takes place without a hitch? The best approach

involves three elements.

Getting in touchContact the seller immediately once you hear you’ve won the auction—before you

crack open the champagne, call your friends, or start dreaming of your bright future

as an online entrepreneur.

It’s essential that you get in touch with the seller immediately simply because this

sets the tone for the transfer process. It shows the seller that you’re serious—you’re

not just some fly-by-nighter who’s bid but won’t pay up. Contacting the seller straight

away proves that you’re enthusiastic about the site and its future, and you’re eager

to get the transfer process started. What seller doesn’t want that?

If you bought a website on Flippa, you’ll automatically receive an email containing

the seller’s contact details so you can get in touch. You can, of course, contact them

through the private message system on the site as well.

In that contact, you might ask how they’d like to proceed, mention your preferences

for transfer timeframes, and so on—understanding, of course, that you’ll need to

honor the terms of the sale, which we’ll talk about more in a moment. The important

thing here is to get a conversation going about the transfer, and to do that as soon

as you can.

Taking the timeTransferring a site—and the payment for it—can take time. Depending on the site

you bought, it can also be a delicate process.

Firstly, there’s the question of payment. To protect both buyer and seller, escrow

services are often recommended. With escrow, you set up an account with a third-

party provider like Escrow.com, and transfer the payment into that account. The

escrow service acts as a middleman, holding onto the funds until they’re satisfied

that the transfer of the site has been completed. Once both buyer and seller have

confirmed the transfer, the funds are released to the seller.

Another option that some buyers and sellers use is that the buyer transfers 50% of

the funds to the seller first up. The seller then transfers the website and domain

name to the buyer’s hosting account, and finally the buyer transfers the remaining

50% of the sale price to the seller. As you can see, this option requires an amount

of trust on both the buyer’s and seller’s parts. Things can go wrong—and disagree-

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites48

ments can arise—during the transfer. That’s why escrow is recommended in most

cases. It can be a good way to keep the emotions out of the equation, and maintain

the objectivity and professionalism needed to transfer the website smoothly.

Next, the nature of the site’s brand—and audience—may need to be considered.

Perhaps the site has a passionate community, loyal following, or large order volumes.

In such cases, you and the seller may need to move carefully to ensure that the

transfer is seen as a positive development by those customers and users who feel

they have a stake in what you’ve bought. The transfer process might begin with the

site owner announcing to the community that they’re moving on. They may want

to introduce you to their community and perhaps set you up as a contributor to the

site so that you can start engaging with the audience as soon as possible, as well as

while the site transfer takes place.

Finally, the actual transfer of the site’s files, account ownership, and digital assets

needs to be completed. Even if the site is relatively straightforward, transferring it

to new servers, for example, without major hiccups will take some preparation and

patience. So don’t rush the transfer process at any step. While you might be itching

to get into the driver’s seat, conducting the transfer well is much more important

than conducting it quickly.

This article on Flippa1 explains the steps involved in transferring a WordPress site,

and many of these steps will apply to the transfer of any site:

1. As the buyer, you’ll need to set up a hosting account that meets the requirements

of the site you’ve bought. You may decide to accept the site files from the seller,

or give the seller access to your hosting account so that they can upload the files

there themselves, and make sure everything’s working before they walk away.

2. The seller will then need to save all the files associated with the site and its

functionality—including databases. They’ll likely need to compress those files

into an archive, as there’ll be a lot of them. If you’re setting up the site on your

new hosting account yourself, they’ll need to get those file archives to you safely

and securely.

1 https://flippa.com/help/transfer-a-wordpress-site

49Complete the transaction

3. Whether it’s you or the seller, whoever’s responsible for setting up the site on

your new hosting account will need to upload the file archives, extract the files

they contain into the right locations, and test the site to make sure everything’s

working properly.

4. Once that’s done, the seller will need to transfer the ownership of the site’s domain

name to you, and either you or they will need to update the domain name server

(DNS) records to resolve to your new host. Remember, this change will take a

little while to propagate through the various domain name servers around the

world, so the redirection won’t take effect immediately.

5. Finally, you’ll need to update the login details for any third-party accounts—for-

ums, social media, or other services—that the seller has included with the sale,

so that you, and you alone, have access to them.

The benefits of moving through the transfer process at a reasonable pace include

the fact that, along the way, you’ll be more likely to identify elements of the website

that you have questions about. Site sellers may take for granted aspects of the website

that are completely new for you. While they may not have thought to put any sale

terms or information together around those aspects, you may need help with them

in order for the site transition to go well. You’ll want to have the breathing space

to identify this during the transfer, so that you can get the help you need from the

seller, rather than after the fact, when you’re on your own.

Honoring the termsFlippa sellers usually specify payment terms and transfer timeframes for the sale.

During the bidding process, you may further flesh out or alter those arrangements,

but you must be prepared to honor the terms of the sale—whatever they may be—at

the point at which your bid is accepted. As we saw earlier, if you’re not happy with

any aspect of the sale or auction, you won’t bid. By bidding, you accept the terms

of the transaction. So be diligent about honoring them.

A seller may specify all kinds of terms for the sale, including how the transfer of

parts of the website will be made, what kind of payment service they want to use,

how long after transfer they’re willing to provide you with support and advice, and

so on. Meet these terms, and you’ll keep the seller happy—something that could be

extremely valuable if, for example:

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites50

■ you’ll be operating your new site in a market in which the seller will be main-

taining a presence as a peer or competitor

■ you find you need a little extra help or assistance with some aspect of the site

■ you want to gain a good Flippa feedback rating from the seller, and possibly use

them as a reference for future transactions on Flippa

Reputations matter online, and the way you conduct yourself during the transfer

process is sure to repay you later. News travels fast in online niches, so doing the

wrong thing by the site seller is sure to get around to others within the market space

you’ve just entered. Do the right thing, and you’ll have a better chance of making

lasting and valuable contacts within your niche—including the seller of the site.

Common traps to avoidThe path to site ownership has its fair share of pitfalls. Those that commonly crop

up during the transfer period include the following:

Hosting misperceptions

Some sellers may try to keep you on their existing hosting plan, and reduce the

amount of work they have to do during the transfer, by telling you that the site

can’t be moved to a different host. This is rarely, if ever, the case. Rather than

taking the seller’s word on this point, contact their host directly and make your

own inquiries. You’ll likely find that the site can indeed be moved to whichever

host you prefer.

Recurring payments

Occasionally, a less-than-scrupulous seller will try to tie to the sale terms an

agreement by which you make recurring payments to them—perhaps a percent-

age of revenues—into the future. Avoid these kinds of sales. When you buy a

website, you want to own it outright, and enjoy all the rewards from the hard

work that you put into it. Even if you feel you’ll be able to negotiate that require-

ment out of the sale terms, the fact that the seller has tried to implement it

suggests that they’re probably not completely aboveboard—you may face other

hidden problems if you purchase the site.

51Complete the transaction

Assumptions about the transfer

The way in which sellers like to transfer their properties to new owners varies,

so make sure that you’re entirely certain of the finer details of the transfer ar-

rangements. Don’t assume information about anything that’s not clearly stated:

ask the seller. Don’t be worried about looking new or inexperienced; remember:

the objective here is to reduce the risk surrounding the purchase as much as

possible, and if that means checking that the dates the seller has specified are

in MM/DD/YY format and not DD/MM/YY format, so be it. Swallow your pride

now, and save yourself some serious headaches later.

“It’ll be okay”

If any of the seller’s terms make you uneasy, don’t bid for the website. Once

your bid is accepted, it’s legally binding, so if you win, you’ll need to pay up.

There’s nothing worse than paying good money for a website if, in your heart,

you feel dubious or uncertain about it. Many sellers will happily negotiate

transaction and transfer terms with the right buyer, but if the seller of a website

you’re considering won’t budge on an aspect of the sale that has you squirming

in your seat, walk away without bidding.

For more information on staying safe on Flippa, read the Website Buyer Safety

Tips.2

Putting it all togetherIn this brief chapter, we touched on the three factors that will set the foundations

for a successful website transfer: getting in touch with the seller as soon as you hear

you’ve won the website, taking the time to get the transfer right, and diligently

honoring the terms of the sale that you agreed to by placing your bid.

We saw how your behavior during the transfer has the potential to impact not just

how smoothly the transfer itself is achieved, but also your reputation on Flippa and

within your new online niche. Do things the right way, and you may even be able

to call on the site seller to provide a reference for you the next time you’re looking

to buy or sell a site on Flippa.

2 https://flippa.com/help/website-buyer-safety-tips

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites52

Finally, we discussed the four most common pitfalls that await the new site buyer.

These pitfalls aren’t restricted to those who are new to buying websites—even ex-

perienced sellers can get cocky or overly excited about a website and throw caution

to the wind, with dire consequences. Don’t take the risk: stay safe by clarifying all

the details of the sale, and doing your own detailed research, before you commit to

buying with a bid.

In the next and final chapter, we take a moment to consider the worst-case scenario:

you buy a site, and the transfer goes off the rails. What then? Keep reading to find

out.

53Complete the transaction

Chapter6What if it all goes wrong?Most sales go swimmingly. There’s a website listing, a successful bid, and a hassle-

free transfer of website and payment.

But sometimes, buying websites can turn out to be something of an adventure,

complete with dark woods, shady characters, and bloodthirsty hounds. Fortunately,

these occasions are few and far between, and their likelihood is directly proportional

to the amount of research you undertake before you bid.

On the other hand, there are times when life throws up unexpected hurdles, and at

those times, you might find yourself asking any of the following three questions.

What if I change my mind?So, you placed a bid on a website, and now you want to retract it. As we’ve seen in

the preceding chapters, all accepted bids are legally binding, so backing out once

you’ve bid is extremely hard to do—you’ll have to throw yourself on the mercy of

the seller. If their desire to sell the site outweighs their empathy over your mistake,

they’ll likely exercise their right to say no to your request, and you’ll need to pay

up. Bear in mind the seller has taken the time to create, promote and manage their

website auction, so the last thing they want to do is start again.

What if you’ve happily made a bid, won the sale or auction, and then decided that

you want to change your mind? Well, you’re in real difficulty. In accepting your

bid, the seller will have declined other valid offers. They trusted your commitment

to buying the website—that’s why they chose you as winner. So they’re unlikely to

be feeling charitable if you decide after all is said and done that, actually, you don’t

want the website anyway. In fact, this scenario is every seller’s worst nightmare.

Accordingly, this is the root of many website disputes. You can ask the seller to

release you from the agreement you made by successfully bidding on their web-

site—and offer to pay the re-listing fee that will need to be covered if they’re to set

up a new sale or auction on Flippa. But don’t expect them to agree. They will,

rightfully, be extremely disappointed, and they’ll probably report you to the Flippa

support team who will likely suspend you from the Flippa marketplace for good.

You won’t ever be able to buy or sell on Flippa again.

If you’ve bought a website, and then decide that you don’t want it, the best option

is to re-list for sale or auction yourself once it’s in your possession. In your listing,

explain why you’ve decided to sell it as-is. Bidders who competed with you to buy

the website when it was first listed will likely want to know why you’re offloading

it, so be open with them, and other potential buyers, about the reasons for your

turnaround. Honesty is the best policy: you made a mistake, you’ve done the hon-

orable thing, and that will come across in your dealings with potential buyers.

You’ll also remain on good terms with the seller, which, as we’ve already seen,

could be of great benefit to you in your future dealings on Flippa, or within the

niche you’re seeking to join.

What if the seller doesn’t deliver?This is every buyer’s worst nightmare: you’ve done all the research, made a bid in

good faith, and won the website … only to find out that the seller has no intention

of delivering what they said they would. Perhaps they seem to be overlooking part

of the deal, or maybe they refuse to respond to any contacts you make once you

send payment through. What should you do?

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites56

First of all, don’t panic. A day’s silence may simply point to some unexpected event

cropping up in the seller’s life. Before you panic, try everything you can to resolve

the issue with the seller. Contact them using every means you have available. Ask

if everything’s okay and express your concern over their non-contact, explaining

that you’re beginning to feel apprehensive. A legitimate seller worth their salt will

rush to respond positively and allay your fears—after all, they want to maintain

their good feedback rating on Flippa too.

If you’re having a difference of opinion over a part of the sale, do your best to work

it out with the seller themselves. Talk it through, explain your position, and listen

to theirs. If you wind up having to agree that you’ve misunderstood each other,

there may be room to negotiate a new outcome that suits you both and preempts

any ill-will that might eventuate otherwise. In all cases, do you utmost to work with

the seller to arrive at an outcome that’s positive for you both.

Once you’ve made that effort, if it hasn’t been successful, you can raise a dispute

over the sale with Flippa.1 You can ask Flippa support staff to check the seller and

contact them to inquire about the transfer.

If you’ve already paid for a website that the seller fails to deliver, you can ask for a

reversal on the payment from the payment provider you used—PayPal, your credit

card provider, your bank, and so on.

Use escrow

As we saw in the previous chapter, Flippa offers escrow services to help avoid

situations of non-payment and non-delivery. If you want maximum peace of mind

in a sale, invite the seller to use escrow services to handle the transfer of payment.

More details of escrow services are available at Flippa.2

Remember that most sellers are ethical, genuine people who want to wrap up a good

transaction with a happy buyer. If you’ve been burned, treat it as a learning experi-

ence for the next time you consider buying a website. Don’t let it put you out of the

game altogether!

1 https://flippa.com/help/disputes2 https://flippa.com/help/escrow

57What if it all goes wrong?

What if I'm in over my head?Taking up ownership of a new website will entail a learning curve, no matter how

experienced you may be. Don’t panic! If you find that you’re in over your head once

you begin operating the site you’ve bought, well, you’re in a fabulous position to

learn a few things.

Step back for a moment from the pressures and worries you’re feeling, and realize

that this is an opportunity. Technology bigwigs and startup CEOs may make it look

easy, but behind the scenes, they’re all learning all the time. And now you’re in the

same boat. How will you handle it?

First up, identify the areas where you’re facing trouble. Break down that over-

whelmed feeling you’ve been battling and look at it more closely. What, really, are

the problems? Write those issues down. Then contact the site’s seller, and see if

they’ll allow you to pick their brains for insights into how to tackle those hurdles.

Although their time is likely to be limited, they may be able to point you in a direc-

tion that lightens the load or gives you a clear way forward—which may be all you

need.

Alternatively, you may find that you need to upskill if you’re really to make the

most of this website you’ve bought. That’s easily done—sites like SitePoint exist

for precisely that purpose.3 As well as great technical books, articles, and blogs,

that site offers friendly forums where experienced designers, developers, and site

owners will be pleased to help you out. Advice, resources, courses, and new friends

are all on offer there.

Perhaps, though, the skills you need are beyond your capabilities or interests. Let’s

face it: deep down, we’re not all would-be designers, marketers-in-waiting, or closet

coders. If you need skills that you can’t or don’t want to learn, consider buying

them. Hiring a freelancer at a site like the SitePoint Market,4 or seeking design

through a quality crowdsourcing service such as 99designs,5 are solid options for

time-poor website owners in need of expert help.

3 http://www.sitepoint.com/4 http://sitepointmarket.com/5 http://99designs.com/

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites58

Putting it all togetherDespite the best intentions and research, buying a website can sometimes leave us

feeling stressed, strung out, and dissatisfied. In this chapter, we’ve explored three

of the most common questions that new site owners find themselves asking when

problems arise.

In each case, we’ve discussed possible ways in which you can seek to rectify the

situation without compromising your ethics, reputation, or self-respect. Finding

that you’re dissatisfied with a sale is challenging; overcoming that dissatisfaction

to find solutions that work for everyone concerned has the potential to be extremely

rewarding. It can reinforce the fact that buying websites is fun, engrossing, and

worthwhile—and that’s before you’ve even begun to develop the site according to

your plans!

In the world of website buying, many opportunities await those buyers who have

the skills to plan, research, and take ownership of digital assets. This guide has

given you the introduction you need to successfully purchase a worthwhile website.

The question is: where will you go from there? And the answer? Well, that’s up to

you.

Where to now?You now have a sound understanding of what it takes to plan, research, and suc-

cessfully purchase a website that meets your needs. What’s next?

■ Refresh your learning with Flippa’s online site-buying primer: ht-

tps://flippa.com/help/buy

■ Read our Getting Started guide: https://flippa.com/help/topics/gettingstarted

■ Subscribe to our blog’s RSS feed, to stay up to date on site-buying news: ht-

tps://flippa.com/blog/feed/

■ Start browsing the Websites for Sale on Flippa: https://flippa.com/buy/

59What if it all goes wrong?

Chapter7Website buyer’s checklistThis checklist is included as a general summary of the information we’ve covered

in this resource. You’ll likely need to adapt it to suit your needs and the types of

properties you’re looking at, but it should provide a good basic roadmap for your

website buying journey.

1. Define yourself:■ motivations and interests■ technical skills■ marketing skills■ available time■ available funds and payback expectations■ exit strategy

2. Set search parameters:■ site topic or niche■ desired technologies■ technologies to avoid■ budget or price limit

3. Set up automated search alerts.

4. Review the site:■ traffic levels■ revenue■ content considerations■ extra items or bonuses included with the sale

5. Review the seller:■ Check feedback and trust rankings.■ Review testimonials from other buyers.■ Ask for the seller’s name and location.■ Review their sales history.■ Understand why they’re selling the site.

6. Make your bid.

7. Complete the transfer:■ Contact the seller.■ Arrange payment transfer as agreed—either part transfer, or full transfer to an

escrow account.■ Set up a hosting account.■ Transfer the site files.■ Test the site.■ Transfer domain ownership.■ Update the DNS records with your new hosting details.■ Update any social media or other third-party-service accounts with your login

details.■ Complete payment, or release the funds from escrow.

The Pro Guide to Buying Websites62